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What Being Inside the New Houston Club Might Look Like

Welcome to the new Houston Club: this rendering shows Gensler’s renovation plans for the lobby near the top of the 50-story One Shell Plaza, where the city’s oldest social club is merging with the not-as-old Plaza Club and moving in. Since 1955, the club met at 811 Rusk (shown at right); but Skansksa bought the 18-story building last year, hastening the move. Swamplot reported in early January that much of 811 Rusk’s contents are being auctioned off tomorrow — the less club members will have to drag up 49 floors to their new fancy digs:

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Gensler tells the Houston Business Journal that the new space will be only about 15,000 sq. ft., a fraction of what the Club enjoyed at 811 Rusk. This rendering shows the Magnolia Room, a dining area:

From dinner to Allen’s Landing, a bar where members have exclusive access to a telescope:

Houston Business Journal reports that the renovations will cost around $3.5 million; the first round should be done this spring, with everything good to go by the start of next September. Here’s the floor plan:

One Comment

Initially I considered the design as represented here to be preliminary — given the sophomoric if not literal design schemes represented. Really? A giant magnolia blossom festooned on the ceiling of the – wait for it — Magnolia Room? And the Allen’s Landing Bar appears to be a corporate break room with skeet inspired luminaires – works for the hunting crowd I guess. Not sure what to say about the lobby rendering… suffice to say it smacks of “design by committee” – from the bacon-like ceiling element to the imposing Sudoku grid floor pattern…

There is little to no evidence of any traditional motifs or even a tip of the hat to what was… rather the renderings suggest a setting more akin to a high budget, fast-track oil & gas corporate build-out. Funny thing is, the renderings convey design that could be located in any city, any state. Nothing to admire here, how unfortunate.